Police: Suspects Used Backhoe To Break Into Bank In Queens

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — Police are looking for a suspect who used a backhoe to break into a bank in Queens.

The incident happened at around 3 a.m. Friday at a Chase Bank branch on 48th Street in Maspeth.

“Wehave two individuals identified as male Hispanics who are involved in these series of robberies,” NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly told reporters, including CBS 2’s Amy Dardashtian.

Suspects Used Backhoe To Break Into Queens Bank

Police said the two men drove the truck through the window of the bank, and then attached two cables to the ATM before trying to drag it out. However, the cables broke and the alarm sounded and the police said the two men went running, leaving the unopened ATM and truck behind.

“That bank’s been robbed before, but not quite like that,” Michael Hanley, who works across the street, told CBS 2’s Janelle Burrell. “It’s a little desperate, that’s kind of extreme.”

The suspects had apparently taken the backhoe from another property a few blocks away.

“We opened up the yard around the block and the gate was broken and the backhoe was gone,” said Darren Dawd with Trocom Construction.

Police said they were alerted about the break-in by the bank’s security system.

Similar robberies happened eight times in April and May at banks across Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens, police said. In those incidents, robbers drove cars through bank windows and pried open ATMs with crowbars. Altogether, those robberies netted close to $30,000, Dardashtian reported.

Police said robbers used a tow truck to try to rob a Middle Village TD Bank on Wednesday.